Every LED strip is built on the same idea—tiny semiconductors mounted to a flexible PCB—but the way those diodes are packaged and driven creates two completely different families. Constant-voltage “dumb” strips wire clusters of LEDs in parallel with on-board resistors so the whole segment changes together; they’re cheap, bright and perfect for task or ambient lighting
Addressable “smart” strips embed a micro-controller next to (or inside) each LED package, letting every pixel show an independent 24-bit (or 32-bit) colour; that’s how you get rainbow chases, music visualisers and POV props. Brightness, run length and video-flicker are where today’s models really diverge. High-density 5630 or 2835 tape can throw more than 1000 lumen per metre for under-cabinet tasks.
By the end of this guide you’ll know which diode package (3528, 2216, 5050, COB, etc.) and which driver chipset (WS2812B, SK6812, APA102, LPD8806, UCS1903, and more) best fits your install—whether you’re lighting a retail shelf or building an animated cosplay sword.
Table of Contents
At-a-glance summary
LED strips fall into two broad families:
| Family | What it means | Typical voltage | Use cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Dumb” (constant-voltage) | LEDs wired in parallel with on-board resistors; whole strip/segment changes together | 5 V / 12 V / 24 V | Task & accent lighting, back-lighting, signage |
| “Smart” (addressable/digital) | Each LED (or small group) has its own IC that receives data, so every pixel is independent | 5 V (most) / 12 V (some) | Animations, effects, dashboards, POV, art |
Choosing boils down to brightness, color options, control complexity, run length and cost. The sections below walk through every major SMD package and every popular addressable chipset in today’s market, then wrap up with a master specification table you can paste straight into your content schedule.
Constant-voltage (“dumb”) LED strips
SMD 3528
The veteran 3.5 × 2.8 mm diode draws just 0.08 W per LED and outputs roughly 5–6 lm, letting manufacturers cram 60–120 diodes per metre while staying under 5 W/m on 12 V or 24 V feeds. That modest draw keeps heat low and price ultra-competitive, which is why 3528 tape still dominates soffit, toe-kick and signage back-lighting where subtle accent light matters more than raw punch. Expect a narrow 120 ° beam and limited colour options (usually single-CCT white or single hue).
SMD 2835
The 2.8 × 3.5 mm successor packs a newer phosphor and a larger light-emitting surface, delivering ~30 % more lumens-per-watt than 3528 while running cooler at the same current. Vendors routinely offer 96–120 LED/m reels that hit 1 000–1 200 lm m-¹, making 2835 the sweet-spot for task lighting and under-cabinet installs that need brightness without 5050-class power draw.
SMD 5050 (single-colour & RGB/RGBW)
At 5 × 5 mm the “tri-chip” 5050 encloses three separate dies, so a single package can emit either high-intensity white or independent R-G-B primaries. A full-white pixel at 5 V draws ~60 mA, so a 5 m reel of 300 LEDs can gulp 18 A—great for dazzling colour washes but demanding on power wiring and heat sinking. RGBW variants squeeze in a fourth phosphor-white die for higher CRI and pastel mixing. Because each segment contains passive resistors only, every LED (or every 3-LED cut-section on 12 V tape) changes colour together.
SMD 5630/5730
Samsung’s 5.6 × 3.0 mm package pushes individual output beyond 40 lm, roughly doubling 5050 brightness at comparable currents. Typical reels run 60 LED/m and sip 14–18 W/m, so installers mount them on aluminium channels for thermal relief in retail shelving, under-counter task light and light-box signage where high lux trumps efficiency.
SMD 2216 (high-CRI pro tape)
Shrinking the footprint to 2.2 × 1.6 mm lets makers pack 180–240 LEDs per metre, producing a butter-smooth “line of light.” Premium 2216 strips ship with CRI ≥ 95 and R9 > 90 for photography, galleries and broadcast sets where true colour rendering matters. Power hovers around 20 W for a 5 m, 24 V reel—manageable as long as you inject power every 5 m run.
SMD 2110 (ultra-high density)
An even smaller 2.1 × 1.0 mm die allows eye-watering 700 LED/m densities on 8 mm PCBs. On 24 V feeds you can run up to 10 m before voltage drop becomes visible, creating continuous, dot-free coves without costly aluminium extrusions. High CRI bins (> 95) are common, but make sure to budget airflow or heatsink—the sheer diode count drives 22–24 W/m.
Chip-on-Board (COB) tape
Instead of discrete SMDs, hundreds of bare LED dice are bonded directly to the flexible PCB and coated in phosphor, producing a seamless 180 ° ribbon of light that measures ~500 lm ft-¹ while erasing the infamous “dot effect.” Short 2–5 cm cut increments simplify cabinetry layouts, and the diffuse output excels behind reflective countertops or mirrors. COB is available in single CCT, tunable white and (new for 2025) RGB variants; just remember the continuous phosphor layer traps more heat, so stick to 24 V and aluminium channels for runs over 3 m.
Addressable (“smart”) LED strips
WS2811
Here the controller IC sits beside a tri-colour 5050 and usually drives three LEDs per pixel on 12 V tape. The single-wire protocol runs at 400–800 kHz and a modest 400 Hz PWM, so long holiday runs are cheap and tolerant of voltage drop—but individual LED control isn’t possible and the low PWM can flicker on slow-motion video.
WS2812B (a.k.a. NeoPixel)
WorldSemi’s superstar merges the data IC and RGB dies into one 5050. Each LED is a fully independent 24-bit pixel that updates at 800 kHz and refreshes with a 400 Hz PWM carrier. Plan for 60 mA per LED at full white, frequent 5 V power injection every 1–2 m and tight timing on the MCU, but revel in a vast ecosystem of FastLED/NeoPixel libraries, community guides and premade animations.
WS2813
Drop-in 5 V replacement for WS2812B with a redundant BI/DI data bus; if one pixel dies, the stream hops to the backup line so the rest of the strip keeps playing. Perfect for stage props or wearables that can’t afford dead-pixel “black-outs,” though you’ll sacrifice one extra GPIO or need to tie BI ↔ DI at the controller.
WS2815
Think WS2813 plus an internal buck converter, letting every pixel run from 12 V while regulating the LED die at ~5 V. The higher rail slashes current by ~⅓ and extends fault-tolerant runs to 10 m with negligible voltage sag; PWM leaps to ~2 kHz so footage stays flicker-free. Current per pixel averages 20 mA white-full, but you’ll still want 18 AWG feeders on long stretches.
SK6812 (RGB + true-white)
Shenzhen Jinsheng shifts to a 32-bit frame—8 bits each for R, G, B and a dedicated white die—plus a ~1.2 kHz PWM. That extra channel means pastel hues, tunable-white effects and higher CRI without complex colour correction. Electrically and mechanically it’s a WS2812B clone, so most libraries work out of the box.
APA102 / SK9822 (DotStar-class)
A separate data + clock pair (SPI up to 20–32 MHz) decouples timing from bit-banged interrupts, making these 5 V pixels the gold standard for POV spinners, LED cube matrices and Raspberry Pi dashboards. On top of 8-bit colour they add a 5-bit global-brightness register and whisper-quiet 20 kHz PWM—totally invisible to high-speed cameras.
LPD8806
The “OG” fast-SPI pixel: six constant-current channels, 7-bit grayscale (21-bit colour), 20 MHz clock and a data-regeneration buffer that supports 2 000 + pixels in one chain. A built-in 1.2 MHz oscillator drives > 4 kHz refresh for broadcast sets, though at the cost of higher price per metre.
UCS1903
An eight-pin external IC that piggybacks on 5 V or 12 V tape and speaks a WS2811-like protocol at 400 Hz PWM. It’s prized in budget signage for its lower BOM cost and wider voltage tolerance, but cinematographers steer clear because of visible flicker under shutter speeds faster than 1/500 s.
TM1803
If you’ve ever bought a “dream-color” kit circa 2014, you met this chip. It handles 3-channel RGB at 400 Hz PWM on 5–24 V rails, but offers no breakpoint-resume and is limited to ~30 m of signalling before refresh jitter sneaks in. Newer controllers still list TM1803 for legacy support, yet most makers now spend a few cents more for WS2811/2812 class parts.
WS2801
A constant-current, 4-wire SPI classic: 25 MHz max clock, 8-bit colour and a healthy 2.5 kHz PWM. Because timing is crystal-friendly and logic-level tolerant (3.3 V–5 V), WS2801 strips remain a rock-solid choice for Raspberry Pi info bars, DIY POV poi and harsh outdoor signage where noise immunity beats the newest bells and whistles.
Master specification table
| Variant | Type | Voltage (V) | Control / Data | PWM Freq | Colours | Typical Power (A/LED) | Notable strengths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMD 3528 | Dumb | 5 / 12 / 24 | n/a | DC | mono | 0.02 A/3-LED segment | Cheapest accent light |
| SMD 2835 | Dumb | 12 / 24 | n/a | DC | mono | 0.02 A/LED | High efficacy |
| SMD 5050 RGB | Dumb | 12 / 24 | 3-ch driver | DC | RGB | 0.06 A/LED | Bright, affordable colour |
| SMD 5630 | Dumb | 12 / 24 | n/a | DC | mono | 0.04 A/LED | Very high brightness |
| SMD 2216 | Dumb | 24 | n/a | DC | mono | 0.024 A/LED | CRI > 95, tight pitch |
| SMD 2110 | Dumb | 24 | n/a | DC | mono | 0.02 A/LED | Up to 700 LED/m seamless |
| COB | Dumb | 12 / 24 | n/a | DC | mono/RGB | 0.015 A/LED eq. | Dot-free, 180 ° beam |
| WS2811 | Smart | 12 | 1-wire ext. IC | 400 / 800 kbps | RGB | 0.06 A per 3-LED | Long runs, cost-effective |
| WS2812B | Smart | 5 | 1-wire | 400 Hz | RGB | 0.06 A/LED | Ubiquitous NeoPixel |
| WS2813 | Smart | 5 | Dual 1-wire | 400 Hz | RGB | 0.06 A/LED | Break-point resume |
| WS2815 | Smart | 12 | Dual 1-wire | 2 kHz | RGB | 0.02 A/LED | Long 12 V runs |
| SK6812 | Smart | 5 | 1-wire | 1.2 kHz | RGBW | 0.06 A/LED | True-white channel |
| APA102 / SK9822 | Smart | 5 | SPI 32 MHz | 20 kHz | RGB | 0.06 A/LED | POV, high-speed cam |
| LPD8806 | Smart | 5–12 | SPI 20 MHz | 4 kHz | RGB (6-ch) | 0.018 A/ch | Deep 12-bit dimming |
| UCS1903 | Smart | 5–12 | 1-wire | 400 Hz | RGB | 0.06 A/LED | Budget signage |
| TM1803 | Smart | 5 | 1-wire | 400 Hz | RGB | 0.06 A/LED | Legacy “dream-color” |
| WS2801 | Smart | 5 | SPI 1 MHz | 2.5 kHz | RGB | 0.06 A/LED | Ultra-compatible |
Key buying tips
- Voltage vs. run length – stay under a 0.3 V drop (≈ 5 %) between injection points; 24 V dumb or 12 V WS2815 go farther than 5 V strips.
- Power budget – full-white WS2812B at 60 LED/m needs ≈ 18 W/m; double-check your PSU and wire gauges.
- PWM & filming – choose ≥ 2 kHz (WS2815, APA102) or constant-voltage DC for flicker-free video.
- Colour fidelity – pick high-CRI 2216/2110 or RGBW SK6812 for accurate product photography.
- Backup data – dual-signal WS2813/2815 keeps shows running even if a pixel fails mid-strip.
Final thoughts
- Pro installers: mix 24 V 2216 or COB for primary white + 5 V APA102 for accents to keep wiring sane yet video-ready.
- Makers: stick with WS2812B or SK6812 for community support unless you need POV speed.
- Outdoor builds: specify IP65+ silicone sleeves and inject power every 2–3 m to defeat voltage sag.
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